


I Notice You As You're Noticing Me

by aionimica



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Heavy Petting, Nonverbal Communication, Unresolved Sexual Tension, communication boner, in which my love for married UST knows no bounds, ish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-22 08:53:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17056703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aionimica/pseuds/aionimica
Summary: "JOIN YOUR FRIENDSHERE AT ‘ALL THAT JAZZ’ ON FEB 15THFOR OUR 2ND ANNUALSINGLES AWARENESS NIGHTLadies get ½ priced drinksGents get ½ priced friesJOIN US AND BE ALONE TOGETHER"Rey and Ben feel a bit lonely on singles awareness day. What could go wrong?





	I Notice You As You're Noticing Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rakefire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rakefire/gifts).



> My piece for the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology Holiday Exchange <3333 I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> Biggest thanks to all the mods who worked tirelessly in organizing this event and thank you so much to everyone who participated. I wouldn't have been able to do this without your encouragement and accountability <3 
> 
> Specifically a huge giant thanks to [kuresoto](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuresoto/pseuds/kuresoto), [thewayofthetrashcompactor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriarLily/pseuds/thewayofthetrashcompactor) and [bittersnake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittersnake/pseuds/bittersnake) for helping me brainstorm and work through this. I wouldn't have made it here without you. 
> 
> And also huge thanks to [crossingwinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crossingwinter/pseuds/crossingwinter) for being my lovely beta and helping me figure this crazy fic out <3 <3
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> \----  
> title is from ["The Maze" by Manchester Orchestra.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjU04sVJUNo)

The sign outside the bar read  "All That Jazz" but the lights in the "a" in Jazz were askew so it read more like "jizz" which was quite possibly the aptest thing to say about this establishment. Ben sighed.

It was a short walk from his apartment, one made longer by the brisk wind and the not at all common dusting of snow that fell from the sky. The blast of heated air was a welcome comfort as he crossed the threshold of the bar, shaking snow from his hair to melt on his shoulders. 

Music blared in his ears — once he might have considered it too loud, but years spent at too-loud concerts dulled his hearing — and the bass thumped against his chest.

A sign taped to the door read: 

JOIN YOUR FRIENDS

HERE AT ‘ALL THAT JAZZ’ ON FEB 15TH 

FOR OUR 2ND ANNUAL

SINGLES AWARENESS NIGHT

Ladies get ½ priced drinks

Gents get ½ priced fries

JOIN US AND BE ALONE TOGETHER

He wasn’t sure if the noise that rose from the back of his throat was a growl or a bark of a laugh, but it was coarse and harsh. Dim lights and smoke mingled together, an echo of the attitude further in. 

A Singles Awareness Event. He wanted to spit the words on the ground. It was a farce, a ploy to get people to spend their money and time, wasting it until they were wasted themselves and just wanted more. And yet here he was. The bite of irony clamped around his neck and for once, he has nothing else to say. 

So instead he glanced at his phone. Even for all his dislike of leaving his warm apartment, of coming to a bar on a singles night, he’d do anything she asked without question. 

She’d sent him a simple message, a request with five words.

_ Meet me by the bar.  _

There were dozens and dozens of shadows, women and men mingling together — some closer than others. The stale scent of grease and uneaten fries hit his nose. Pushing through to the front of the bar — it wasn’t hard when crowds tended to part for someone of his stature — he leaned forward, ordered a gin and tonic. 

There were countless people here that could have texted him, several more that sat alone looking around for a white knight to rescue them. A part of him bitterly commented that he was anything but worthy of that descriptor. Not that it mattered. There was only one woman he’d brave the cold and snow for, to come to a singles bar with a simple text.

Rey knew him too well. 

It was to be expected at this point, in all fairness, and Ben didn’t have it in him to resist. 

But she? She was electric, drawing him in like a moth to a flame. Her presence was magnifying, unable to be mistaken for anything else. He would recognize her anywhere, in any place, if only by the curve of her jaw and the light in her eyes, the hidden laugh in the corner of her lips. 

Her voice carried over the music like a bell, her accent clear despite the music and the roar of other voices. And there was another voice close to her — very close. A man — tall, but not nearly as tall as him — was very eagerly investigating her, attempting to entice her with what he could guess was subpar conversation.

She held her own with deadly precision and a part of Ben wanted to watch it unfold. But she texted him, reached out to him and he couldn’t deny her request for his presence any longer. 

Ben turned around and walked over. “Excuse me,” he said quietly and the man stood suddenly, backing away with a perplexed look on his face. 

Rey took one look at him and her lips twitched into a smile. “I’m sorry,” she said to the man at her shoulder, “but I’m not interested.”

“Oh, is he—“ Whatever words were about to come out of the other man’s mouth vanished as Ben rolled his shoulders and stretched to his full height. Usually that was all it took as most others took in his height, the breadth of his shoulders and the ease with which he carried both and determined, No. This was not worth their time. 

The man ignored him, turned to Rey and said silkily, “Have a lovely night, my dear, and if he ends up disappointing you, you know where to find me.”

The restraint it must have taken to keep from rolling her eyes must have been considerable, he mused. Especially considering Ben was pondering what would be the most efficient way to render him unconscious.  

“You’re a fine specimen.” Her attention was on him now, and only him and that flame he found himself staring into burned brighter and brighter until he was lost in it, in her. He should have expected as much, and yet it always surprised him.

Ben swallowed. “Tends to run in the family.”

She smiled demurely, taking another sip of her drink. “Must be an impressive family.”

He coughed before taking a drink of his own. “You have no idea,” he said before taking a step forward. “Come on, it’s getting late. We should go.”

“Did no one tell you that you’re skipping several steps.” He just stared at her. She stared back. “Buy me a drink and see where it gets you.”

“Rey,” he murmured.

“What?” She took him in over the rim of her glass, her eyes playing and twinkling with delight. “Have we met before?”

“Love, it’s late.”

“Honey, it’s singles awareness day,” she replied with a gentle wave of her hand, her voice dropping an octave. Honey slid off her tongue.

Ben nodded once and almost had to smile. “Yes, Rey, and I’m making sure you know you’re not single.”

Her eyes lit up and he watched her as she trails them down his torso, taking him in, down coat and all. “And how, kind stranger, do you happen to know that?”

“The wedding ring I bought you.”

It was almost comical the way her eyes widen as she glanced down to her hand where the single silver band rested on her left ring finger. “Shit, I forgot to take it off.”

“Why are you here?” He asked her quietly, barely resisting the urge to smile. His hand subconsciously went to his own matching band, twisting it around his knuckle.

“Rose and Jess had a great idea for drinks,” she said, her hand gesturing over to the other side of the room. If Ben looked hard enough, he could see the vague outline of two individuals that would fit his wife’s friends. They looked currently occupied, to say the least. “And at first it was just the three of us together and it was fun to just be girls again for once, not having to worry about work or life or dates or spouses or anything… Not that there’s anything wrong with you! I just… We just wanted to relive the old days for a little bit.”

Ben grabbed the empty stool next to her and sat down. He knew that urge well -- there were moments when he looked back on his life and wished he could go back and relive. Most of those were to change moments, to redo what he had done. He saw it as a second chance, mostly because it was only within the past five or so years that he had not seen anything about his life that he would clarify as a mistake. Marrying Rey three years ago was the best decision he ever made. 

“But then I guess one of them let it slip and Finn and Poe showed up and they all paired off and went, well.” Rey sighed. “I’m sure you can guess since that red-haired prick came over right after I sent you that text…”

He glanced across the bar to the other side of the club. Finn and Rose swayed on the far side of the dance floor while Poe and Jess huddled close together in a booth in the far corners. 

“You were left all alone,” he commented.

“Yeah.” She frowned, her lips pouting and looking adorable. “Single.”

They each had their vices. Lord knows Ben’s list was longer than he was tall and they raised their heads at the most inopportune moments. But Rey’s was sinister, eking in at her vulnerabilities, eating away at her strengths like rust, whispering  _ you’re alone, you’ll always be alone and unwanted _ at all hours of the night. He lost count by this point how much he reassured her that he would never leave her, never walk away. 

Even now when she was married and with friends and that sentiment reared its ugly head, he was able to hold her and whisper the truth in her ear:  _ you’re not alone, you’re so very, very wanted _ . 

Taking one last swing of his drink, relishing the sharp taste of pine on his tongue, Ben turned and let that fire reach his eyes. “Would you like to make them all jealous?”

She glanced up sharply, electricity sparking between them as she takes in his suggestion. “You’d do that?”

He grinned, that rare thing he saved only for her. “For you? I’d do anything.” He took her hand and set her drink down before walking to the dance floor. “Let’s start from the beginning.” He talks in her ear, low enough to be heard. “I’m Kylo Ren.”

“Oh, are we going back to that? Are you going to tell me how working for your mother is a bad idea? And how your father was an asshole who never understood you?”

He looks away, the weight of her words hitting unexpectedly. God, how many years had his father been in the grave? Was it almost ten? He was gone nearly seven years by the time he married Rey… 

There was a sickening in the pit of his stomach as he realized his father’s death marked their relationship, down to the very day. He still remembers the first time he saw her, dressed in black, crying for a man she barely knew and one that he couldn’t bring himself tears to cry for.

That could have been the gin, but Ben knew better. This was his road, he walked it - but not alone. Rey —beautiful Rey, bold and fearless — pressed flush against him disproved that. 

“No,” he said, raising her hand to his lips and kissing the palm, letting it linger on his lips. “Left that way of life a long time ago.”

She leaned against him on her elbows, looking up to him with sharp hazel eyes. “Why?”

They were single again. Him, meeting a woman much too young for him -- his colleagues rolling their eyes or egging him on as he eyed his mother’s intern. A summer of bad decisions categorized their first romance. For three months, they fell into each other: they dated, they argued, he left while she stayed and they didn’t see each other for close to three years.  

And then when he came back to his family’s business with his father’s death finally something he was able to face and his role in it as well, she was there. And she didn’t turn him away, even though she didn’t run into him with embracing arms. He didn’t expect her to. She never let him down easy -- but that’s what he needed, at least that’s what his mother said. 

_ Snoke was your only goal, your only mindset for nearly twenty years — ever since you met him as a kid, you wanted to be like him.  _ Leia had been on home oxygen at that point, her voice hoarse even though she smiled.  _ Let someone knock him out of your head for once _ .  _ And it doesn’t have to be me _ . 

He’d never forget that smile she always had on her face when she talked about Rey. “Met someone who knocked a deal of sense into me. Literally.”

Rey reached up, trailing her hand against his scar, running down his cheek. Chills ran along his spine. The first time she touched him like this was years after they met. Three weeks later Ben proposed. When she asked what prompted it, why then, in a stray week in August after they bought groceries and made one of the worst meals of their lives, he told her of his touch. 

“She sounds like a good person.”

He held her tights, her hip pressed against him and she moved, rubbing slightly against his ever growing erection. “I never said she.”

She was warm, leaning into him further, grinding against him with that knowing look in her eye. His Rey knew exactly what she was doing as she smiled and said, “Ah, but I can guess.”

They danced, swaying together in time with the music. She leaned against him, her head resting on his chest, her breath stirring along the base of his neck. He followed her into the sway of the music, letting his body fall victim to the rhythm. Her hands fell as she leaned in, her fingers glancing ever more daringly against his cock. A groan stirred at the base of his chest, the urge to take her home and bend her over growing ever stronger. Half of his mind favored just letting her skip that hand of hers down his pants here and now. 

But his wife was a tease, and he was anything if not participatory. He cupped the small of her back, pressing her against himself, leaning into her, melting into her. His mouth strayed against the smooth skin of her neck; he felt he shiver. A hand lifted up, fondling her breast just so through the sheerness of her shirt. He felt her lean in, her mouth parted as he felt her nipple harden beneath his fingers and it was all he could do to not drop to his knees and suckle it until it was red and peaked.

They were still in public after all. So instead, leaned in, his mouth hovering just above hers, teasing, taunting as he said, “I’m sure you can.”

“Get a room!” Across the room, Rose gave them a thumbs up before burying her head back into Finn’s shoulder. 

“My friends.”

“They’re smart.”

Rey stepped back and held out her hand, her cheeks flushed with red. “Shall we go back to my place?”

“Are you propositioning me, Ms. Johnson?”

“It’s Mrs. Solo to you.”

He grinned and let his breath curl in her ear as they walked out of the door. “Never thought I’d be seducing a married woman.”

She shoved him. He laughed — he never laughed before Rey; she made it come out like a geyser, like a firework, like when she wrapped her hands around his cock and bent between his legs and —

“Tell me you love me,” she said as they stood in the street, snow falling around them.

It wasn’t a request. She wanted his words and the truth of him behind it.

“I love you, Rey,” he said and for a moment they were standing before each other at an altar, saying vows and placing rings on each other’s fingers. 

She kissed him now as she kissed him then, melting into his arms as he pulled her close and lifted her up, his gloved hand tangling in her hair, snow melting on their lips. She tasted bitter and sweet, the smell of the bar lingering on her clothes. But not for long. Soon, she’d smell like Rey again -- like sweet skin and berry shampoo and thickened want that always rose between them as she arched her back and spread her legs and took him in so well that he wanted nothing more than to worship between her thighs. 

“I love you too, Ben,” she said, leaning back. Chill settled on their lips, as the wind carved redness on their cheeks. “And thank you.”

“You’re not alone.” His promise to her.  _ Don’t forget _ , he willed her to believe.

She smiled and took his hand and kissed it before shoving it into her pocket, tangling her fingers with his. “I know.” 


End file.
